A class division is prevalent within the narrator’s society, in that the wealthy isolate the poor and require them to marry another wealthy person in order to be integrated back into society. Karl Marx believed this division was a struggle for power, “[…] ‘motored’ by the competition for economic, social, and political advantage” (Barry, 151). Thus, since poor people have no money, they have no power over their lives. As the narrator states while in the woman’s shelter, “What I prefer is no longer of concern” (46). With the wealthy choosing who they want to marry, the poor do not have the ability to accept or decline the selection. Although many widows and poor people get placed into the shelters, there is an exemption age that allows a person
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Peter Hitchcock asserts, “Balibar’s move is crucial: instead of conceiving class as the founding principle that solidifies a properly bourgeois social order, he avers that one should critique the way the category actually destroys that very possibility.” Thus addressing the notion that due to the class division between the bourgeoisie and proletariat, the society that the bourgeoisie have strove to create has failed because the proletariat has noticed the flaws within it. For instance, the narrator states, “They are running toward what they believe is the best for them, not what the manual claims is the best. It should be the same thing but it isn’t” (51). The poor people that escape the shelter are not concerned with the materialistic ideals the bourgeoisie have instilled, they want to take their power back and live their life on their terms. Even though many people get caught when they escape the shelter, they continue their pursuit of escape because they have hope. As the narrator states, “ The runner needs a good heat start. I doubt she got it. They never do. And yet they always try.” (51) The hope that the people carry shows the desperation they have to leave the structure the bourgeoisie have created. Therefore showing the idea that the bourgeoisie set out to create a stable social structure that suits …show more content…
By valuing items for superficial purposes, people within society learn to detach themselves from their possessions. For example, after the narrators husband dies, she states “I have a good shot of getting chosen, since I’m a good decorator and we have some pretty nice stuff to sell off and so my dowry will likely enticing. And the car is pretty new, and in the last year I was the only one who could drive it and I kept it clean” (44). As society has enforced in its members, one is only worth what materialistic items they possess. Although most poor people are placed into a shelter, some are captured and sold on the black market. As the narrator recounts, “As with all things, there is a black market for left behind women, most often widowed, though, rarely, irreconcilable difference can land one in a shelter” (45). Therefore, poor people are considered materialistic possessions that can be resold back into society. Moreover, widowed parents’ must be separated from their children in order to have a better chance of reentering society once again. For example, “[…] separate mother’s from children. I’ve heard it can be hard on everyone” (44). Since the bourgeoisie are the one’s choosing the proletariat, the resale possibility of a widowed parent without their child benefits both themselves and their child because they can reenter society,
Peter Hitchcock asserts, “Balibar’s move is crucial: instead of conceiving class as the founding principle that solidifies a properly bourgeois social order, he avers that one should critique the way the category actually destroys that very possibility.” Thus addressing the notion that due to the class division between the bourgeoisie and proletariat, the society that the bourgeoisie have strove to create has failed because the proletariat has noticed the flaws within it. For instance, the narrator states, “They are running toward what they believe is the best for them, not what the manual claims is the best. It should be the same thing but it isn’t” (51). The poor people that escape the shelter are not concerned with the materialistic ideals the bourgeoisie have instilled, they want to take their power back and live their life on their terms. Even though many people get caught when they escape the shelter, they continue their pursuit of escape because they have hope. As the narrator states, “ The runner needs a good heat start. I doubt she got it. They never do. And yet they always try.” (51) The hope that the people carry shows the desperation they have to leave the structure the bourgeoisie have created. Therefore showing the idea that the bourgeoisie set out to create a stable social structure that suits …show more content…
By valuing items for superficial purposes, people within society learn to detach themselves from their possessions. For example, after the narrators husband dies, she states “I have a good shot of getting chosen, since I’m a good decorator and we have some pretty nice stuff to sell off and so my dowry will likely enticing. And the car is pretty new, and in the last year I was the only one who could drive it and I kept it clean” (44). As society has enforced in its members, one is only worth what materialistic items they possess. Although most poor people are placed into a shelter, some are captured and sold on the black market. As the narrator recounts, “As with all things, there is a black market for left behind women, most often widowed, though, rarely, irreconcilable difference can land one in a shelter” (45). Therefore, poor people are considered materialistic possessions that can be resold back into society. Moreover, widowed parents’ must be separated from their children in order to have a better chance of reentering society once again. For example, “[…] separate mother’s from children. I’ve heard it can be hard on everyone” (44). Since the bourgeoisie are the one’s choosing the proletariat, the resale possibility of a widowed parent without their child benefits both themselves and their child because they can reenter society,